Firsts
by BlaisesPix
Summary: When best friends James and Ryan make a promise to each other before even starting Hogwarts they never dream that it could cause them problems in the future. Especially with the new best friend that they each make once there. Rating just in case for
1. The Beginning

"James Potter! Get your blood ass back here NOW or else!" screamed the angry redhead who was chasing him around the yard.

The boy in question stopped instantly, not because of the threat, but because of the way that she had said it.

"You just said 'bloody ass'. What the hell is that? You never . . . oomph!"

James never got to finish his sentence, as he was tackled by a petite redhead. They rolled for a while then came to a stop with Ryan, the redhead, straddling James' stomach.

"If only I had some cake, then this would be perfect."

Ryan got a far off look while she remembered when they had first met. Ryan's family had just moved into their new house. Their neighbors had a little boy around Ryan's age and they had been invited over for the boy's birthday party. Ryan walked up to a group of boys and asked if she could play with them because she didn't want to play dolls with the rest of the girls. One boy with messy black hair started to make fun of her saying that she wasn't really a girl if she didn't play with dolls. Ryan ignored him and one of the other boys asked what her name was. She innocently answered "Ryan Peyton", and the first boy started to laugh again. "So you are a boy because Ryan is a boys name." Ryan loved her name so this made her extremely mad. "I'll show you who's a boy" she muttered and tackled him, both rolling down a hill. They came to a stop right next to the table with a huge cake in the shape of a 4 on it with Ryan sitting on the boy's stomach. She didn't even know his name. Ryan did the first thing she could think of and stuck her hand in the bottom part of the four and shoved it in the boys face. Then, for good measure, she stood up and shoved a bit down his pants.

She smiled in remembrance. She had only learned his name and the fact that it was his party when both their mothers had started yelling. Both their dads had been to busy laughing to say anything. Ryan and James had been inseparable since that day and the cake thing had been a long standing joke with them.

"But that's not the point. Moving on, how the hell could you not tell me!?!?! It's only a HUGE lie that you have been telling me for the past seven years. How could you not tell me that you can do magic? That I can do magic?"

"I couldn't tell you, they made me promise to keep my mouth shut! At the time you didn't know that you were a witch or that you were adopted. You know I would never willingly lie to you R.P.!"

James was starting to sound desperate now. He hated it when Ryan was mad at him, she was like his sister. They had been best friends and inseparable since age four.

Ryan could feel herself softening toward James. He was the one person that she could never stay mad at. Especially when he called her by her nickname. He was the only one besides her daddy, well her adoptive daddy she though, that called her R.P., just like she was the only one to call him J.J. Ryan loved her name. Ryan Peyton Alyssa Kahlyn Kogan. But no one called her by her full first name unless she was in trouble., which is why she loved her nickname so much. It was as close to her full name as it got.

"I'm not mad, just promise no more secrets from each other."

"Promise. We'll always . . .". Once again James didn't get to finish his thought, this time because his and Ryan's mothers came outside.

"Well now isn't this an interesting position to be found in?" Mrs. Potter said. Then she and Mrs. Kogan walked off. They were too use to seeing Ryan and James in positions like this to care. It was nothing new for them and they meant nothing by it.

Ryan turned back to James. "Promise me. No more lies or secrets. Ever."

"Promise," James replied. "We'll tell each other the truth no matter what and we'll share everything."

And they did. Never again did Ryan or James lie to teach other. But little did they know that some of the promises that they were going to make each other before going to school would come back to haunt them. Especially with their new friends.


	2. Hallway Encounters and Slipups

James sighed and ruffled his already messy hair. Ryan and Sirius had never gotten along, per say. The two had a unique relationship. They loved to fight one another. That's all the two of them did and it got on James' nerves. It had started in first year. James and Sirius had met on the train and had instantly become best friends. The fighting had started with little things like who was James' best friend and who got to spend more time with him, but has escalated around fourth year. Even though he denied it violently, the fights had gotten worse when Sirius noticed that boys were becoming interested in Ryan. That's what had brought on the latest fight. Ryan had been dating a seventh year Ravenclaw for almost three months, which was a while for her, and Sirius was convinced that he was using her.

"He's only after one thing and you know it! And he'll only get bored with you after you give it to him." Sirius yelled in the middle of the hallway

"Shows what you know. Just because sex is all you want from a girl doesn't mean that every boy is like that. I'll have you know that Finn has never pressured me."

By now Ryan was so mad that she wasn't bothering to try and keep her voice down anymore. Quite a crowd had gathered around trying to hear what the latest Sirius/Ryan blow-up was about. James and Remus were both inside the little circle of empty space around Sirius and Ryan, seeing as on one wanted to get close and be in the line of fire, and were trying to convince Ryan to lower her voice, Sirius to shut up, and both of them to take it to the common room. But both were studiously ignored.

"That's because he knows that you're just a virgin ice queen who will never give it up." Sirius screamed, not caring that he was completely contradicting his earlier point of Ryan's boyfriend only wanting one thing.

Ryan let out a laugh. "Ha. That's what you think. I'm not even a virgin, so once again you know absolutely freaking nothing about what you speak of."

The entire hall went deadly silent and on one moved. Everyone was just staring at Ryan wondering if she would go on.

Remus looked mildly curious, yet also vaguely pissed. Who had dared touch the girl that the Marauders had declared as "off-limits"? Sure Ryan dated but all of those boys know not to cross the Marauders on their "Ryan Rules". They were the most enforced rules the Marauders have, and they have a lot of rules. The rules were simple:

**IF **the Marauders approve of you then you may date Ryan.

There is no touching. Ever. Touching results in broken limbs.

All kissing must last no longer than five seconds, and must take place in a well lit, public place.

No one must ever tell Ryan about the "Ryan Rules". No matter what. That would be bad. For everyone involved.

Whoever Ryan has lost it to had broken Rules 2 AND 3. There was sure as hell touching involved and it better not have been in a public place. PLUS there was most likely long kissing.

"This boy is dead." Remus decided.

Sirius was in shock. His mind frozen, trying to process what he had just learned.

James just looked uncomfortable.

Just then three girls broke out of the crowd and grabbed Ryan, one on each side and one behind, dragging her away from the masses. No one dared try and stop these four girls when they looked like this. But they did get more than a few appreciative glances. Ryan let out a small chuckle at this, particularly because of what happened at the beginning of her first year.

FLASHBACK

"Ryan Kogan" called Professor McGonagall, waiting for someone to come up and get sorted. It came as a shock when a tiny GIRL with fiery red hair came forward. McGonagall actually said to her, "I'm sorry honey but you have to wait your turn. Right now it's Ryan Kogan's turn." Ryan laughed along with James and everyone else that they had sat with on the train. "But Professor, I am Ryan Kogan." Everyone was stunned when she took the sorting have from McGonagall's hand, sat on the stool, and put it on her own head. It had barely hit her head when the hat called out "Gryffindor!"

The next week was much of the same. Even after the "Sorting Scene" as she had dubbed it, people were still expecting her to be a boy when they heard her name, and were shocked when they saw that she wasn't.

Ryan go so sick of it that at the end of the first week, in the middle of dinner, she had stood on the table and yelled for everyone's attention. "Hi. My name is Ryan Peyton Kogan. And I am a girl. You would all do well to remember that. Thank you." Then she primly sat back down and finished her dinner. Needless to say no one mistook her for a boy again.

END FLASHBACK

Ryan laughed again when she thought about how no one would mistake her for a boy now, no matter what her name. Actually, none of the girls had to worry about that anymore. Taylor and Alex had had the same problem as Ryan in the beginning. Not that any of the girls had ever looked like boys, people just judged by their names. All in all the girls made quite the picture storming down the hallway, ignoring everyone in their path.

In the middle you had Ryan Peyton Kogan. She has long red hair that fell in soft, loose curls down to the top of her bottom, but she always wears it up, so only James knows how long it is. It's usually covered by a hat of some sort and today it was a cowboy hat. Her face was dominated by huge violet eyes that were surrounded by long dark lashes. Ryan was the shortest of the girls at only 5'4", but she was also the curviest by far. She tends to cover up her curves, much to everyone's disappointment, with loose layer and prefers long sleeves. She has a temper to match her hair but is easily distracted, so you could make her mad very quickly but she soon forgets about it. The only person that she seems to be able to stay mad at is Sirius. She is very outspoken, opinionated and argumentative and is one of those people who doesn't care what anyone else thinks of her. Her philosophy is: Like her or don't, no skin off her nose either way.

On Ryan right was Cassiopeia Tanner, more commonly know as Peia. Peia is the trouble maker of the group. She looks very innocent with her long straight blonde hair and huge chocolate brown eyes. She towers over Ryan and is rail thin without looking sickly and had just the right amount of curves for being so tall and skinny. Peia tends to be a little mischievous and is the mastermind all of the pranks and plans that the girls come up with. All four have been in a three year prank war with the Marauders but the boys have no idea who they are competing with and Peia comes up with the most brilliant ideas to get back at the self-proclaimed Kings of Pranking. Peia also plays up the innocent look and act so the she can insure that she and the other girls, mostly Ryan, aren't caught.

On the left was Alex Carlyle, a.k.a. Al or A.C, and Al is the peacemaker of the girls. She is the ultimate girly-girl with white blonde hair cut just below her chin. Her hair has bold red highlights with choppy layers and long side-swept bangs. Big, soft sky blue eyes complete her look. She also has the figure that is very pixie like. She's only a little taller than Ryan, very delicate looking with gentle curves. Al is constantly flirting but in a fun friendly way that causes everyone to like her. With her cheerleader type peppiness, she can't stand to see anyone upset or unhappy.

Behind the group was Taylor Zahara or Tay. Tay is the problem solver. With her short black hair and clear bottle green eyes she has a very reserved beauty about her. Tay is about average height and not quiet as curvy as Ryan. She's the one in the group that is quiet and shy. Tay is very sensitive and everyone goes to her with problems and secrets because they know that they can trust her with anything. Everyone came to Tay if they needed someone to give them an honest opinion about something, and as smart as she is, she's very naïve about some things.

While all four of the girls are very close to each other, if they had to pick one that was their best friend it would be Ryan and Peia and Tay and Al. Their personalities just seem to mesh well together. Peia can control Ryan's temper and Tay is less reserved around Al.

By the time that the girls reached the common room Peia, Tay and Al were finally coming out of their shock. Not only had Ryan just announced details of her sex life to pretty much the whole school, but she hadn't told them that she wasn't a virgin anymore. It wasn't fair, they had all told her, so the girls were bound and determined to get some answers. As soon as they gave the Fat Lady the password Ryan was pushed into the fluffy armchair closest to the fire.

"Spill. Now." Peia demanded.

It was only then that Ryan really grasped what had just happened. Before it had all be tainted red by her fury at Sirius. Realizing exactly what she had said, Ryan started babbling. "Holy shit! I can't believe I said that. I wasn't supposed to say that. I was just so mad at Sirius for running his mouth, and . . . oh my god I just announced to the school that I'm not a virgin. I might as well have just started yelling about the promise. Holy shit. He's going to kill me, never speak to me . . ."

SMACK!!

Tay slapped Ryan across the face. Everyone just looked at her. Tay was the quiet one, the passive one, the 'violence is not the answer' one. She just shrugged.

"Thanks Tay, I needed that."

"No problem. Now do you want to tell us what's going on?"

"Yeah! Like why the hell you didn't tell any of use that you lost your virginity. Who? When? Where? Why we had to find out with the rest of the school when you admit it to Sirius sodding Black. Aren't best friends supposed to know these things before your mortal enemy?" Peia rambled, clearly upset.

Al, sensing how upset Ryan was, walked forward and sank into the chair with her pulling her into a hug. She hated people being upset. "You okay Ry? If you don't want to talk about it right now we understand and can wait until you're ready. We'll be there for you no matter what."

Ryan looked up and gave them all a watery smile, and that's when they knew that something was really wrong. Ryan never cried. "Thanks guys. I wanted to tell you so bad but I couldn't. Before anything else I need to talk to _him_ and then I'll talk to you. I'm sorry."

They all told her thatit was going to be alright before going up to their room to let Ryan think. She sat there for what seemed like forever just staring at the fire worrying about what was going to happen.

She heard the portrait open and close. Ryan could tell that it was him without any problem. Taking a deep breath she turned, looking right into his eyes. Those eyes that could see right through her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. Please."

He just stood there looking at her. He shook his head and walked up to his room without saying a word, leaving Ryan, heartbroken, to think about everything that had brought them to this point.


	3. Never Ever?

FLASHBACK

James and Ryan were walking together through Diagon Alley. They were both going to be turning eleven soon and going to start Hogwarts in the fall. They had somehow talked James' parents into letting them do their shopping alone. They had already been to Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkins, the apothecary, Eeylops Owl Emporium, and the exotic pet store. They had gotten all of the requirements and James had gotten a beautiful pure black owl with sapphire eyes at Eeylops, but Ryan wanted something different so she had spent forever in the exotic pet store. Finally she had found the perfect pet. It was a special breed of tiger. It would get no bigger than the size it was born, which was around the size of a large cat or a small puppy, but it would also have the temperament and the mentality of a baby animal. Ryan thought it was perfect, and James thought she was crazy. Now all they needed was to go to Ollivander's for a wand.

They were walking aimlessly around the Alley after getting their wands when James saw two older kids kissing while sitting outside the ice cream shop. As they continued to wander James couldn't get what he had seen out of his head. James could be very observant and he had noticed that some of the older girls were giving him funny looks. Like the looks that his cousin gave the boy down the street when she was visiting. He had also seen the looks that some of the older boys were giving Ryan, who was skipping around the alley in, what James considered, a far to revealing outfit. She was wearing a black tank top with an off the shoulder thin, long-sleeve, white t-shirt over it and a short jean skirt. She paired that with a black beanie on her head and red high top Chuck Taylors. Lucky for James, Ryan didn't notice any of the looks, and if she had, she would have just laughed them off.

When they got back to James' house, he was unusually quiet. Ryan noticed this.

"What's wrong J.J.?"

James just shrugged, unsure if he wanted to talk about this with her. They were laying out on the lawn in front of James' house just looking up at the clouds in the sky. After a couple more minutes of silence he asked, "Did you see those two people outside of the ice cream shop today?"

Ryan thought about it and shook her head. "I didn't see anything unusual. Why?"

James was quiet again. This time for so long that Ryan thought he has fallen asleep or something.

"There were two kids outside it and they were kissing."

"So J.J.? It's not like you've never seen anyone kissing before."

"This was different R.P. It wasn't like Mom kissed Dad. It looked like they were trying to eat each others face. I swear I saw the guy stick his tongue in the girl's mouth!"

"Ewww! That disgusting! Why would anyone want to do that?"

"I don't know. I overheard my cousins Cale and Ashby talking about it last time they were over. They were giggling about Nick from down the street and talking about kissing him. They sounded excited and like they wanted it to happen so I guess it must feel good. They were actually really descriptive about what they thought it would be like."

By now Ryan was starting to get over some of her disgust. If this is what older girls were supposed to do then she wanted to know how. She didn't want the boy to be the one in control or for him to have power over her. She looked James right in the eyes and said, "James, this is important. What EXACTLY did Cale and Ashby say? Word for word."

James was a little confused by her sudden change of heart. "Umm . . . well I don't know exactly . . . but . . . something like . . ."

"Spit it out J.J. This could be a matter of life or death!"

"Well I can't say word for word but Cale was talking about her first kiss and she said that it was perfect. The guy was sweet and didn't just shove his tongue down her throat."

Ryan made a face, some of the disgust returning. "J.J. that's not good enough. I need details."

James didn't want to tell Ryan about this. He didn't like the idea of any boy doing this to HIS R.P. No one was allowed to touch her. Ever. But he figured it he didn't tell her she might hit him. "Well she said that he made her smile before, and one of his hands came up to her cheek and the other was behind her neck playing with her hair and pulling her a little closer. Her eyes closed even before their lips met. She put one hand on his chest and the other was resting on his leg. He didn't thrust his tongue into her mouth, but instead ran it gently along her bottom lip and then nipped at it softly with his teeth making her shiver. Then he slowly pulled away, but not before he ran his thumb over the corner of her lips. She said it was the perfect first kiss. There, is that enough DETAIL for you R.P.?"

Ryan thought about what James had said. "That doesn't sound yucky at all J.J. That actually sounds kind of nice" came her soft reply.

The ten-year old jumped up. "That better not sound nice. Because no boy is going to do that to you. Ever."

"Never ever?" she asked sadly. Ryan thought he meant that no boy was ever going to like her enough to kiss her.

James heard the sadness in her whispered question and softened just a little in his definition of ever. He never could stand to see R.P. sad. "Well, at least not until after you're married. I won't let him. It's not allowed" he said stubbornly.

Ryan was quiet again, just staring up at the clouds. "But J.J., don't you think it would be better if I had my first kiss with someone that I trust and love? Wouldn't that be better than me just picking some random boy and kissing him? Then you wouldn't have to worry about me because you would know him."

James thought about this for a minute. Would it be better for someone he knew to kiss Ryan? He didn't want it to be just some random boy that he didn't know, that was for sure. That boy might hurt his R.P. or take advantage of her or shove his tongue down her throat or touch her. And there was no touching allowed. But would it really be better if it was someone he knew. Probably not. He might get mad at the boy and it would mess with their friendship. 'Face it,' he thought, 'You just don't like the idea of anyone kissing R.P.' "I don't know R.P. I don't know if it would be better."

Ryan moved closer to James. "J.J.?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you be my first kiss?" The question was so quiet that he almost didn't hear it.

James didn't answer right away. Did he really want to kiss R.P.? 'At least this way I don't have to worry about any other boys kissing her. And I can make sure that her first kiss is as perfect as Cale's was. R.P. definitely deserved a perfect first kiss. Plus I could use this as practice for when I kiss a girl for real. I don't want the first girl I kiss to think I don't know what I'm doing.' "Okay R.P. I'll be your first kiss."

James stood up and pulled Ryan to her feet. "Come with me." He led her around the house and into the back yard. Going into the woods behind the house, he took her to their tree house. They had built it with their dads a couple years ago and would often spend the night in it. James thought that it was the perfect place for the perfect kiss. They both sat down on their respective bean bag chairs, Ryan's black with silver stars and James' blue and green tie-dye. They both looked around nervously. Then James realized that they were to far apart to kiss and pulled Ryan onto his bean bag.

James tried to do things just as Cale had described them because that's what R.P. said she thought sounded nice. He smiled at her and told her to close her eyes. When they were closed, he softly put one hand on her cheek. Ryan smiled and leaned into his hand. James' touch always made her feel safe, like nothing bad could ever get her. He pulled her closer to him and put his other hand on her neck, but it felt awkward so he moved it to her lower back. He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers, and her arms moved up to wrap around his neck. James' tongue came out to hesitantly run across her bottom lip. Unconsciously, Ryan opened her mouth and tentatively touched James' tongue with her own, but almost immediately pulled it back in and closed her mouth. James sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and ran let it run lightly through his teeth as he pulled slowly away. His thumb brushed over her bottom lip before he pulled away completely.

Ryan lazily opened her eyes and just looked at James for a minute before launching herself at him and nearly suffocating him with a hug.

"Thanks you so much J.J. You gave me the perfect first kiss. The best first kiss a girl could ask for."

"You're welcome R.P. You deserved the perfect first kiss. Besides I got the perfect first kiss out of it too."

They didn't talk for a long time, just sitting there sharing James' bean bag chair. Ryan was curled up looking out the window with a smile on her face. James was just lying back looking at the ceiling.

Ryan couldn't keep the smile off her face. It was perfect. And she felt so safe with James. She knew that whatever it was that boys and girls did together, she always wanted James to be the first one she did it with. He would make sure that she was safe and happy and she wouldn't have to be scared to give him control over her. "James?"

"Yeah?" She sounded serious, and she had called him James instead of J.J. so he knew to pay attention.

"Can you promise me something?" Ryan asked in a small voice.

"What is it?"

"I want you to be all my firsts. Anything that boys and girls are supposed to do together I want you to be the first one I do it with. Promise J.J.?" she whispered

James didn't even have to think about it. This way he would be to keep her away from other boys. He was her first kiss, and he would be her first boyfriend and first date and anything else they were supposed to do. And it would give him good practice for the for real stuff. Not even a second after the quiet question he answered.

"Promise R.P."

ENDFLASHBACK


	4. Bed Buggies and Kisses Goodnight

Ryan and James had laughed together over their 'other first kisses' as they liked to call them

RECAP: CHAPTER 2:

She heard the portrait open and close. Ryan could tell that it was him without any problem. Taking a deep breath she turned, looking right into his eyes. Those eyes that could see right through her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. Please."

He just stood there looking at her. He shook his head and walked up to his room without saying a word, leaving Ryan, heartbroken, to think about everything that had brought them to this point.

CHAPTER 4:

After James walked up the stairs, Ryan went back to staring at the fire. She thought back to everything that the two of them had been through together. Even after their promise they had shared everything with each other, nothing had ever been awkward between the two of them.

She remember one night during second year where the two of them had been sitting cross-legged, facing each other on James bed in the boys dormitory. They had laughed together over their 'other first kisses' as they liked to call them. Ryan's had been with a boy who slobbered all over her and shoved his tongue as far in her mouth as he could, just leaving it there like a dead slug. Needless to say she had never kissed him again. James' had been with a girl who, as soon as the kiss started, had become very aggressive and taken over. James had been disappointed that he hadn't gotten to show off his "technique" as he liked to call it. James had dated that girl for about another week before he broke up with her. He confided in Ryan, telling her that the girl was to pushy for him.

They had never had a fight that lasted longer then a few hours before this. Three hours was the longest. Ryan had a feeling that this was going to last a lot longer than that. But as much as she didn't like it Ryan could understand why James was mad at her. They had agreed not to tell anyone about the promise. James had never told Sirius and that was why Ryan had never told the girls. The only way they would tell anyone was if Ryan had started dating one of James' friends or vice versa. And here she had just blurted it out to everyone. Ryan didn't know if she could handle it if they didn't make up soon.

Without her realizing it, tears had been running down Ryan's face the entire time, until she finally let go and they turned into full-blown, gut-wrenching sobs. What broke her heart the most was that this was the first time in nearly fourteen years that she would go to bed with out him kissing her goodnight on the forehead and warning her to watch out for the "bed buggies" as she had called them when she was little.

Up in the girls dormitory, Peia, Tay and Al were talking quietly.

"What do you think she meant when she said she couldn't tell us?" Peia asked. "It can't be that it is to embarrassing because Al lost hers to that ugly, geeky Hufflepuff and we didn't make to much fun of her and nothing could be worse than that."

Al made a sputtering noise of protest. "Hey, he may be ugly and geeky but he was sweet. Besides not all of us can loose it to the 'Hogwarts Sex God', though I still don't know why you would want to sleep with Black." She gave a small shudder of disgust as she spit out Sirius name like it was the plague.

Peia simply replied, "Made for a good first time, which is more than most girls can say."

Tay thought about it for a little while before she came up with an answer to the original question. "My guess would be that the guy didn't what it to get around, either because he was protecting Ryan's reputation or because he doesn't like to be the center of attention. And we all know that the guy would be the center of attention because the boys would be out for his blood. She obviously cares enough for this guy to keep quiet. We all know she wouldn't keep anything from us without a good reason."

"Yeah, I guess. But it's not like we would tell anyone. She should have known us better than to think we would tell anyone." Al said.

Peia jumped into defend Ryan. She may have been upset that she didn't know something about her best friend, but angry or not she always had her back. "Of course she knows that. It's just that once things are said out loud there is more of a chance of people finding out. Remember when she and Finn first started dating? We were the only ones that she told and then all of a sudden James and Sirius were storming off to the Ravenclaw common room to try and kill him. I swear I think those boys have our room bugged somehow so that they can know all of our secrets."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Tay muttered. "But for now we need to focus on Ryan. Something is seriously wrong and we need to figure out how to fix it."

"I don't think we can right now. She'll talk to us when she's ready. The most important thing right now is that she works things out with whoever this guy is. We just need to be there for her and make sure that she isn't hurt too much."

Before anyone could add anything else all three girls grabbed their left wrists, which were giving off a red glow coupled with a quick searing pain. All four of the girls have practically identical tattoos on the inside of their left wrists. It is of a shooting star, and underneath was written "Vasilia" (pronunciation Vah-SEE-lee-ya) in elegant cursive writing. Vasilia was the goddess of the stars, and that name along with a shooting star was the calling card of sorts that the girls left behind for all of their pranks. That was the only identifying mark that the Marauders knew their rivals by. And being boys, the Marauders never noticed the tattoo that each girl had, which would have identified them as the rivals of the Marauders. The reason that the tattoos are practically identical is because each girl had hers done in a different color. Ryan's was red, Peia's purple, Tay's gold and Al's black. The tattoos also served another purposed, not just a calling card. The girls had had the tattoos done with mood ink. If one of the girls was in danger, very scared or incredibly upset, then the tattoo on each of the other three girls would become momentarily painful and glow the color of the girl in need. They had taken it one step further and found a very handy charm to place on the tattoos. It worked so that if any of the girls were in need of help, her location would appear, written on the star after the glow had stopped, so that the others could get to her.

Right now, after the glow subsided, the word 'Gryffindor Common Room' appeared on each girl's wrist. They wasted no time in sprinting out the door and down the stair into the common room, where they found Ryan curled into a ball on one of the chairs in hysterics. They all rushed to her and she flung herself at Peia, and collapsed onto her shoulder. Today was a Hogsmeade trip, which was where they were headed before the fight between Sirius and Ryan, so none of the girls were worried about anyone walking into the common room so they stayed there to comfort her. Al and Tay were quiet while rubbing Ryan's back and Peia held her, murmuring nonsensical things in her ear to calm her down. When Ryan had calmed down considerably, Peia started talking.

"Ry? Do you want to talk about anything?"

She desperately did want to talk about it. The only problem was, she didn't know how to tell the girls about it without giving away specifics that she wasn't supposed to give.

"Yes, but the first thing that you guys have to realize is that I can't tell you who the guy is."

The girls started to protest, but Ryan cut them off.

"No, we promised that we wouldn't tell anyone. The only way people would know is if I wanted to date one of his friends or he wanted to date one of mine. Then we would tell the person the truth, but other than that no one knows. Okay?"

They agreed, but they didn't like it

"That's the reason that I never told anyone. I knew that people would be hurt or get mad. You guys are mad that I didn't tell you when it happened and that I won't tell you now, the boys are going to be mad that someone touched me without their permission and they will try and find the boy and kill him, the boy is mad that I screamed it in the hallway, and James won't talk to me.

Up in the boys dormitory Sirius, Remus, and Peter was talking about some girl that they had seen at the Three Broomsticks. James was only half listening while getting ready to go to bed. Just as he was about to get in, Sirius spoke up.

"Aren't you going to tell Ryan goodnight?" he asked with a curious look.

James felt like crying when he heard this. He knew that Ryan loved this tradition of theirs. That's why he still did it after all this time. It had all started one night not long after they had met, when Ryan had admitted to James that she was scared to go to bed because there were monsters under the bed. James had been her hero and told her that she would scare the monsters away. After Ryan was positive that the bed was all clear she had declared that all she had to worry about now where bed buggies. James had told her that he would always save her from monsters, kissed her forehead and said "Watch out for those bed buggies". Ever since, Ryan can't sleep without James kissing her goodnight and telling her that. They had never missed a night because Ryan said that she couldn't sleep without it. Even if James had to go to her house just for their goodnight ritual, he always did. And he'd never admit it, but he liked to do it too. He thought about it for a moment. He knew what had happened wasn't totally Ryan's fault. When she gets mad, she really has trouble controlling the things that come out of her mouth. But that didn't mean that James wasn't upset or that he was ready to forgive her. He came to a decision. He wouldn't break tradition just because of some stupid fight, and maybe if he did this Ryan would understand that while he needed time things would go back to normal eventually.

"Yeah, I am", he said as he walked out of the room.

Ryan heard footsteps coming down the boys stairs and held her breath, not daring to think that it was James. But her eyes never left the bottom of the stairway. James stepped out wearing only a pair of black pajama pants and a pair of rainbow socks that Ryan had given him for Christmas years ago. It was one of James' oddities that he couldn't sleep without these socks on. When he appeared Ryan felt like she could finally breathe again, even if she couldn't move or speak.

James saw her curled up in a chair, surrounded by the girls, face red and blotchy from crying. He noticed that she hadn't moved a muscle since he appeared as if she was afraid of what he was going to say or do. He stopped in front of her chair and knelt down. Giving her a small grin, he kissed her softly on the forehead. Standing up again he said, "Watch out for those bed buggies R.P." and walked back to the stairs.

Just as he was stepping up to the first one, something small and soft collided with his back. Arms wrapped around his neck and he automatically dropped his hands to his sides to grab Ryan's legs, knowing instinctively that she would have had to jump on his back to reach his neck since she was so much shorter than him. When Ryan was situated so that it looked like James was giving her a piggy-back ride, her arms squeezed around his neck so she was hugging him tightly and cutting off his oxygen supply. She leaned into his ear and whispered, "'Night J.J.", before jumping off his back. James turned to see her sprinting up the girls stairs. He continued up his stairs smiling to himself.


End file.
